Cold-end processing of full-lead crystal workpieces such as decorative ornaments, figurines, trophies, or the like (hereinafter "ornaments") is a very labor intensive industry. To make a full-lead crystal ornament, craftsmen first rough cut, carve or grind the ornament from a slab of full-lead crystal. The slabs, when provided from the material manufacturer, typically weigh about 15-60 pounds depending on the specific finished product, and have dull, uneven, unpolished surfaces.
After the ornament is rough cut or carved from the slab, each surface must be ground and polished to a clear, brilliant finish. In the prior art, each surface is first hand ground three times with a progressively finer grinding surface. Each surface is then hand polished three times with a progressively finer polishing surface. This six step grinding/polishing process must be performed on each outer surface of the ornament.
Since the process of cold-end finishing full-lead crystal ornaments is very labor intensive, automation of even a portion of the finishing process would significantly reduce the overall cost of the ornament. It is estimated that the cost of cutting, grinding and polishing the ornament comprises at least about 80 percent of the ornament's factory cost whereas the cost of the lead-crystal material comprises no more than about 20 percent of the factory cost. Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the amount of hand labor involved in cold-end finishing full-lead crystal ornaments in order to reduce the overall cost of the ornament.
Some industries teach automated machines for grinding and/or polishing materials having significantly different properties than full-lead crystal. For example, in the marble and granite industry, the Mantello honing machine, Officina Meccanica Antonino Mantello, Catania, Italy, is known for polishing the face surface of large marble or granite workpieces. In the plate glass industry, the Bovone straight line edging machine, Bovone Elettromeccanica, Belforte Monferrato, Italy, is known for edge finishing sheets of plate glass having a material thickness in the range of 2 mm to 25 mm. While the Mantello honing machine and the Bovone edge finishing machine provide a finished surface which is acceptable for marble, granite, and plate glass, respectively, the Mantello honing machine (in its original unmodified condition) cannot provide the clear, brilliant surface finish required for full-lead crystal ornaments and the Bovone straight line edging machine does not have the widthwise capacity to process common full-lead crystal ornaments. Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide an automated apparatus and method capable of providing a finish which is clear and brilliant enough for full-lead crystal, i.e., without visible flaws.